The Fate of the Critters
By Pat Racimora on January 7, 2009 at 1:55 PM in Current Affairs, Endangered Species, Environment
Who do you want making decisions as to which animal species remain protected and which will become endangered or let to go forever?
You have two choices:
(1) Scientists who understand ecology and the balances in nature, or
(2) Bureaucrats with urgent project agendas.
Well, guess what? In his few remaining days in office using “Midnight Resolutions”–the opportunity to sneak last-minute in changes before leaving office that Congress is not fast enough to deal with with so they pass right into law–President Bush has pounded another nail into the Endangered Species Act.
This time he removed a provision that requires Fish and Wildlife Service scientists to make sure that endangered species won’t be harmed by federally approved logging, mining, and road-building projects. So now the fate of any critters “in the way” will be decided by other federal agencies, like the Army Corps of Engineers or the Federal Highway Administration.
However, I have to be realistic and admit the anguished reality that not every living creature is going to survive the human takeover of the environment, including some forms of positive progress. Creating alternative energy sources, for example, will endanger some species. That’s just a sad fact. As Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lamented on a recent 60 Minutes, environmentalists are upset with a solar project in the year-round hyper-sunny federally-owned land in California’s Mojave Desert. Why? Because the Mohave ground squirrel and the desert tortoise, both protected by state and federal law, may be adversely affected.
Here’s the problem. Many worry that non-scientists will tend to make decisions based only on moving along the agenda at hand. Build that road. Take down that forest. Strip that land. I like to believe that scientists would be more circumspect as they are trained to be—seeking truth rather than the answer someone else wants.
And here is where the big rub comes in. What can save lives and can keep our habitat balanced allowing for a sustainable planet is not always as it seems at first blush to the rest of us, including those now empowered to make decisions about which critters remain protected and which ones we will soon never see again, such as the lovely creatures portrayed in my toon.
Let me offer a couple of examples as to why non-scientists should not be making these decisions.
What is the most disgusting living thing you can think of? My choice is maggots. Without knowing more, people would probably be OK if they were extinct because they are ugly, useless and cause problems. Turns out they can greatly enhance the healing of burn wounds by attacking only dead tissue, and are especially useful when patients cannot tolerate antibiotics. MDT (Maggot Debridement Therapy) is saving lives.
Other critters that many see as disgusting or scary or annoying are essential and beneficial to our planet. Although not endangered (yet?), bats (unfortunately portrayed as frightening and evil, thanks to vampire fantasies in unending variety) provide an excellent example of critters that many see a unlikable and might not care if their numbers were reduced to zero. But bats are natural enemies of night-flying insect pests, and protect animals and us from such diseases as malaria, equine infectious anemia, and heartworms. Bats are pollinators of plants and are agents of seed dispersal, both of which contribute to the health of the environment. Bats guano is a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Other examples include bees, worms, and bottom feeders of any sort that have their place as keeping planet life in balance. Even flies are second only to the bees and wasps, in the useful function of pollination.
The Union of Concerned Scientists has issued the warning: “Biological diversity provides food, fiber, medicines, clean water, and many other products and services we depend upon every day. Yet nearly one-third of native species in the United States are at risk of disappearing.”
Not good news for critters–or for us and our planet.
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